Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-07-08
I,cnninn a sleepeI.

/
steamer and cutter and Of Using
many similar words in a variety OF SENSES
/ results not 50 much from the poverty of
( our language as from our laziness. 1t is
we'll ridiculel in the following:
4 s.ccg-r j. ono who sleeps. a slccpc,
is stliat i'in WIicn b Jlnncr sleeps \
sleeper is that on which tho siccpel wniu..
Carlos the sleeper while he siecpsTurf, :,
, TE@eioye While Tic sleeper sleeps il
-'..A,.es. ne sissgsg cffFies nc sleeper
the %, ''''"o' lie ~ Ecf tufii
over the sIcepcr '''." OH US
the sleeper which carries va.
sleeper, and wakes the sleeper in the
sleeper by striking the sleeper under the
sleeper and there is no longer any slceper
sleeping in the sleeper on The sleeper.
Inc TACT that ncatness Of person Is a
habit that is easily lost, if neglect is once
allowed, Is proved nowadays in a great
many individual cases, but il has been
proved on larger scale by the experience
OF the world after the baths of the ancicnls
went out of fashion. In the change Of
the worlds habits incidental 10 the change
OF religion, and especially with the dc
served condemnation Of the Roman public
baths by the Christian church, the practice
OF public bathing came to an end, and that
OF private bathing, unhappily, became only
too rare
The usagcs of the generations preceding
tie present century, in the matter Of clean.
illness Of personal habits, are almost incrcd-
iblc 10 us. \ book recently published. OF
which Mr.. Alfred Franklin is the author.
contains some facts regarding the domestic
life and social uSagcs Of the period from
the twelfth 10 the eighteenth century.
which arc in a sense in,trcuiivc since thcy
show 10 what a condition even "clcraut
society" may descend, when the watchfu
care for personal cleanliness is once aban
doncd.
The ladies Of the seventeenth century
very seldom washed their faces. They
sometimes dipped cloth in spirits, and
passed 1t over their faces; and their toilet
codes and directions. still cXlant. prove
that they avoided water for the face, be.
cause they believed il was destructive To
the complexion. As for any other sort of
baths, no reference is found to them in
these toilet directions, probably for the
very good reason that none were ever
taken. That the same ladies seldom
washed even their hands seems to be O..
tablishcd also. In an old romance n
princess says TO n young lord Of the court,
You see, sir, that my hands are whittier
than yours, although it is four days now
since | washed them, This seems 10 have
been commonplace remark, and treats Of
n condition of things which was taken
quite as matter of course
Kichclicu was known among the men of
the seventeenth century as a man who was
10 some degree eccentric, from the fact
that he was neat in his person That he is
mentioned as IMAM who hathcd" seems
TO prove that il was not common for men
10 battle" at that time The women of
the courts of Louis XIV. and Nv. of
France pOTderrd their faces necessarily
instead of washing thtm, and E4ilt cnor.
nous hcad-drcs>cs upon heads that were
never combcd The accounts which are
given OF some results Of this practice are
almost hey Ond blliCf
1t seems 10 have taken the people al ~
rope many centuries 10 learn what they
know of the need of personal cleanliness,
a knowledge which they lost after the de
slruction Of the Roman baths. The pco-
pie of the European continent Of the pres
cnt day are far from being as scrupulous
in this respect rs are the English and
Americans.
In some countries Of Europe an cXtraor-
binary neglect of personal cleanliness still
prevails among the majority Of the people,
and disease and pcSlilcncc are the result
almost as often as they were from the
want of cleanliness in the Mid
die ages.